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The United States is seeking dialogue with both Russia and China on nuclear arms without preconditions, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a speech laying out the US approach to decreasing the risk of a nuclear conflict.
Sullivan also said that the US is simultaneously working to modernize its nuclear force but not to increase its size.
Friday’s speech came as the architecture of nuclear arms control is facing serious threats, with Sullivan warning the world faces an “inflection point” on nuclear stability. China is expanding its nuclear arsenal and the US estimates it could have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035 if they continue to expand their stockpile at the current pace. And Russia suspended its participation in the New START Treaty earlier this year, the last nuclear arms control agreement between the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.
“We’re entering a new era, one that demands new strategies and solutions to achieve the goals we’ve always had: prevent an arms race, reduce the risk of misperception and escalation and most importantly, ensure the safety and security of our people and people around the world from nuclear threats,” Sullivan said on Friday at the Arms Control Association.
Even as China is growing its nuclear arsenal, Sullivan said the US does not need to engage in an arms race with Beijing.
“The United States does not need to increase our nuclear forces to outnumber the combined total of our competitors in order to successfully deter them,” Sullivan said, adding that the US will stick to the nuclear warhead limits that the US and Russia have agreed to “as long as Russia does”
However, Sullivan did not count out the possibility of that assessment changing.
